Press Release

Third Electoral College Elector Joins Equal Citizens Lawsuit Against Colorado Secretary of State

BOSTON, MA – EQUALCITIZENS.US announced today that 2016 Colorado Presidential Elector Micheal Baca has joined the lawsuit against Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, charging Williams with voter intimidation for his refusal to allow electors to vote their conscience in the 2016 presidential ballot. Williams removed Baca as an elector when he cast his ballot for John Kasich. The suit charges Williams with violating Baca’s constitutional right to vote as his conscience demanded.

Lawrence Lessig, founder of EQUALCITIZENS.US, and one of the attorneys representing Micheal Baca, said,“The Constitution vests in Electors the choice for whom they will vote. Subject to a single limitation specified by the Constitution, that discretion is reserved to them, and them alone. When Secretary Williams removed Micheal Baca as an elector because of his vote, Williams violated both Baca’s federal constitutional rights and a clear directive of the 10th Circuit. We will ask the federal courts to affirm the Constitution’s plan by declaring that the actions of Secretary Williams violated Plaintiffs’ rights.”

Baca joins two other Plaintiffs who were also intimidated by Williams’ threats, Polly Baca (no relation to Micheal), and Robert Nemanich. All three Plaintiffs have announced that they will limit the damages they are seeking to $1. “Our objective is to affirm a constitutional principle,” Micheal Baca stated. “That principle is critical to our Framers’ design for electing the President. It is critically important that the courts clarify the rights of electors, so that the uncertainty that surrounded the 2016 vote does not repeat itself in the future.”

The Colorado lawsuit against Secretary Williams will be litigated by Lessig and Denver lawyer Jason Wesoky.

EQUALCITIZENS.US is a non-profit defending voting rights nationally. It has announced an intent to support two lawsuits challenging the winner-take-all method for allocating electoral college votes (EQUALVOTES.US).